An Open Letter to SANGAM

August 14, 2001
Sauri Gudlavalleti
President, SANGAM
MIT, USA

Dear Sauri Gudlavalleti,

We are deeply distressed to learn that SANGAM has invited Mr. Ashok Singhal, the working president of VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) to address the MIT community. You are no doubt aware that VHP has a lengthy record of inciting and participating in religious violence across India. Mr. Singhal has led a long campaign of hatred exhorting Hindu men to take up arms against Muslims and Christians in India. This hate mongering eventually led to the destruction of the sixteenth century Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in December 1992 by the supporters of VHP and its allied organizations.

The demolition of the mosque was followed by the massacre of large numbers of Muslims in organized riots across India. In more recent years, VHP and its allies (in particular, the Bajrang Dal) have been implicated in the burning of churches in Gujarat, and in the heinous murder of Graham Staines, an Australian missionary who had worked in Orissa for more than 30 years, and his two sons. These organizations have also tried to muzzle voices and artistic expression of people who choose to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of India by burning down, looting and destroying property. Mr. Singhal believes that the Nobel Prize awarded to Amartya Sen was part of a "Christian conspiracy to propagate their religion and wipe out Hinduism from this country."

Although the VHP portrays itself as a cultural organization, even a cursory glance at their web page reveals a gross misrepresentation of the history and culture of the Indian sub-continent. The narrow, homogenous definition of Hinduism adhered to by the VHP, and their stated goal of replacing the current Indian State with Hindu Rashtra (Hindu Nation) not only threatens the religious minorities in India but is also offensive to all of us who take pride in the pluralist, multi-ethnic and multi-religious India.

We appreciate the need to expose the MIT community to new ideas and new cultural and political formations. But surely, there are many scholars and activists, such as Swami Agnivesh, who are not only competent to speak on "Dharma, Uprightness & Politics" but have also worked steadfastly to promote amity and tolerance and social and gender equity in India.

An organization such as SANGAM whose mission is to present "the multifaceted, dynamic face of the Indian Subcontinent to MIT" does a grave injustice to its members and to the MIT community by lending its considerable reputation to a neo-fascist organization such as the VHP. We protest SANGAM’s decision to host such an event.

Sincerely,